Over the past few weeks, Jürgen Klopp's Liverpool have been gaining not only traction in the league, but scrutinized attention over some new principles of play. That "new" principle involves the use of Trent Alexander-Arnold where all of us always knew he could excel, in central areas. I wanted to throw my hat into the mix, partially because there's an argument to make that this is not all that new.
During the pandemic, I probably watched close to twenty football matches a week. I got quite good at watching matches (i.e. analyzing football) but I didn't feel as though I was living the most well balanced life. It's cool to watch football for entertainment, but I no longer find it particularly possible. Even if I enjoy watching my favourite teams play, I'm always thinking about the site and how I can use my learnings from any given match to create content. For my line of work, I then find it imperative that I understand my purpose for watching football.
For much of the 2022-23 season, Arsenal looked like genuine title favourites, with the Gunners in full flow under a former Pep Guardiola mentee, Mikel Arteta. But in the past few months, the Gunners have slowly started to slip away, and tip the scale back in favour of the team that have won four of the last five seasons. Pep Guardiola's team have been absolutely immaculate as the season has come to a close, under much in the way of new, evolving tactics. We break down the tactical undertones of Guardiola's team in 2022-23, and how they've evolved their approach in the quest for another league title.
Just under five years ago, Tajon Buchanan was playing for a little-known club here in Ontario called Sigma FC, under the tutelage of Bobby Smyrniotis. Today, he's being linked with a move to one of Europe's biggest clubs - Inter Milan. Buchanan's had quite the rapid rise from a dynamic dribbling right-sided central midfielder for New England, to one of Canada's most influential players. He's excelled for Club Brugge as a right-wing-back the past couple of seasons, and now looks destined for a move to one of the grandest stages in European football. Here is our analysis of what makes Tajon Buchanan perfect for Inter Milan.
Van Dijk's return post-injury has been fairly remarkable, but he is starting to show signs of slowing down. He's no longer that same commanding presence that simply cannot be dribbled around. Liverpool meanwhile are suffering, with the Europa League now acting as their best shot at attaining European football next season. The Dutchman himself is now 31 years old, and often remains alongside another key figurehead of the same age in Joël Matip. With that, we attempt to assess the best candidates to replace Virgil Van Dijk at Liverpool, as Jurgen Klopp prepares for the future.
Castellanos had one of the greatest games of his life, netting 4 goals against last season's Champions League victors. He became the first player in the 21st century to score four against Los Blancos in a league game, and did so with just 6 shots. With that, let's dissect how "Taty" Castellanos scanned for success in his heroic performance against one of the world's best sides.
Scanning goes far beyond what must coaches will shout out: "check your shoulder!". It needs to encompass a constant process of neck and eye movement, assessing ball, opposition, teammates and space.
As coaches, we must recognize that players have an array of qualities that make them unique on the pitch. We must also recognize that each of these unique pillars need to be paid attention to with dedicated attention and care.
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